Friday, August 29, 2014

UNO Welcomes Students From Doshisha University

Twenty students from Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan are visiting the University
of New Orleans for the next two weeks.

Tomodachi in Japanese means "friend." Each Doshisha student is paired with a partner
from the University of New Orleans, who will show her around town and introduce her
to the culture and traditions of New Orleans while helping her to practice new language
skills.

UNO students, faculty and staff welcomed the Doshisha students at a special dinner
this week. A good time was by all.

Tomodachi means "friend" in Japanese.

For the next two weeks, the University of New Orleans Division of International Education
Intensive Language Program (IELP) will host 26 students and one faculty member from
the Doshisha University in Kyoto, Japan through a special program named UNO-Doshisha
Open Doors.

Learn More

For more information on the UNO-Doshisha Open Doors Program, or to help, email isp@uno.edu.

"It is exciting because it's allowing us to expand the relationship we already have
with Doshish and really engage our students in person-to-person cultural exchange,"
said Alea Cot, assistant vice president for international education and director of
the division of international education at UNO. "We're looking forward to growing
the cooperation with Doshisha as much as we can."

The UNO-Doshisha Open Doors program, which runs from Sept. 1-14, represents increased
collaboration between UNO and Doshisha University, which has hosted the UNO-Japan:
Study at Doshisha University Program summer study abroad program since 2009, Cot said.
Established in 1875, Doshisha University is one of the most highly respected institutions
of higher education in Japan, said Cot.

In 2011, UNO signed a partnership agreement with the Japanese University that enabled
students from both universities to be spent a semester or academic year on one another's
campuses.

"Now with the UNO-Doshisha Open Doors Program, Doshisha students who may not be ready
to spend a semester at UNO because they need to improve their English language skills
can learn American culture and language in true New Orleans style," said Cot, who
is "excited" to meet the Japanese students and expand the collaboration between the
two Universities. "They might come back for graduate study here. It is an exciting
program here. It will be very fun and very fast. We'll have a jam-packed two weeks
and then they're gone."

About 130 students from UNO have studied in Japan on our summer program at Doshisha
University over a six-year time frame, said Cot. Five students have gone on a semester
or yearlong exchange.

"Some students have gone twice. One got married and now lives there," she said. "I
know there's been at least one or two marriages, a lot of friendships and everything
else. They've sent students here for the semester too and their goal is to send even
more," she said of new friends at Doshisha. "They've been happy with their experience
here."

Participating students will receive daily language instruction on the UNO campus,
Cot said. They will also enjoy enrichment lectures, such as informational sessions
on jazz and a lecture on New Orleans culture by Professor Emeritus Bobby Dupont, and
extracurricular activities, such as a weekend trip to the beach in Pensacola, Fla.
and local visits to the New Orleans Museum of Art, the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas,
the Audubon Butterfly Garden and Insectarium and more. The students will also attend
an "After Hours" concert at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art and take a Honey Island
Swamp Tour.

"They're going to take English classes in the morning, taught in our program," said
Cot. "The first afternoon we're taking them to the French Quarter, showing them how
to get there on the Elysian Fields (Number 55) bus."

Japanese students will also be paired with "Tomodachi" partners from the UNO community,
Cot said. These volunteers, many of whom have studied in Japan, will become the Doshisha
students' link to New Orleans and American culture, cuisine, lifestyle, traditions
and other elements.

"We're hoping that in their free time the Americans will take them out, one on one
or two on two, and show them around," said Cot. "They might do some language exchange,
where they practice their English and Japanese. A few of these students have met each
other already, they may want to or take them home for a home-cooked meal."

The Doshisha students will arrive Monday, Cot said. A welcome dinner is planned is
planned for Tuesday, Sept. 2.